Amaretto Sour
Amaretto Sour is made with amaretto, fresh lemon, aromatic bitters and egg white in a foamy sour, served cold.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Chill a rocks glass and prepare the garnish before mixing.
Add all measured ingredients to a shaker.
Add ice and shake until cold, strain back into the empty tin to remove the ice, then seal and shake again without ice to build the foam.
Fine strain into the prepared rocks glass over fresh ice.
Add a drained cocktail cherry on a pick. If adding the optional bitters decoration, draw it lightly across the foam.
A thoughtful finish
- This version has no added bourbon; the amaretto supplies the base and the sweetness.
- Use the pasteurized egg product specified for this build, and measure it before adding it to the tin.
- Chill the serving glass as well as the mixture so the first sip stays cold.
Common mistakes
- Adding simple syrup automatically can make this liqueur-led sour much sweeter than intended.
- Insufficient shaking leaves the egg poorly incorporated and the texture uneven.
- A warm serving glass quickly undoes the chilling achieved during mixing.
A few good questions.
What is in a Amaretto Sour?
Amaretto Sour is made with amaretto, fresh lemon, aromatic bitters and egg white in a foamy sour.
Can I scale a Amaretto Sour for more servings?
Multiply every measured ingredient by the same serving count. Prepare the measured still ingredients ahead if useful, but chill, shake or stir each serving as directed; add any carbonated finish at service.
Can I leave out the egg?
Leaving out the egg changes the texture; the selected recipe includes it. An egg-free version should be labeled as an adaptation rather than presented as the same build.
What glass should I use for a Amaretto Sour?
Use the assigned rocks glass for this directory serving. Where that differs from the source’s presentation, the version note labels the serving adaptation.
Variations
- Egg-free presentation — Editorial adaptation: omit egg white and label the result as an egg-free variation; it will lack the selected build’s foam and texture, and still requires ingredient-label checks.
- Alternate citrus peel — Editorial presentation variation: try a different fresh citrus peel for the surface aroma while keeping the liquid formula unchanged; identify it as a garnish change.
Where it comes from
Contested. More than one origin is claimed for this drink. We show the competing accounts rather than pick one.
The Amaretto Sour’s exact birth is less secure than its recognizable liqueur-and-citrus structure. Difford’s Guide discusses a proposed 1974 creation at the request of the brand’s American importer, but presents that account as a belief rather than a fully established event. It also points out the drink’s absence from some 1970s reference books and its presence in later printed collections. Those publication observations help explain the timeline but do not prove a precise invention year or identify an individual bartender. This entry therefore leaves those fields blank. The selected recipe is the amaretto-led version with lemon, bitters and egg white. Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s later bourbon-containing adaptation is a distinct, credited variation; its existence should not be used to rewrite the older drink’s ingredients or turn an uncertain importer story into fact.
Sources
- Difford’s Guide — Amaretto Sour Cocktail Recipe (reference) link
Strength. About 0.83 US standard drinks at an estimated 2.2% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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